Structural profiles are well-known components, frequently used in the technical sector of construction to create the supporting structures of buildings. They are made of steel, metal alloys, concrete, wood or polymers, or combinations of these materials, they have an elongated shape and, depending on the specific use they are designed for, their cross-section may have many different shapes. In most cases, structural profiles comprise at least one main elongated portion, called the web, and at least one other portion called the flange, also having an elongated and narrow shape, which is transversally fixedly attached with one of the edges of the web, in such a way that the main axis of the flange is parallel to the main axis of the web. The cross-sections of this class of structural profile are usually in the shape of a T, double T, L, U or C.
To build the supporting structure of a building it is essential to attach firmly together the different structural components it comprises. For this reason, it is often necessary to provide structural profiles with different types of holes, slots, and/or reliefs, arranged to allow for said joints and disposed in a determined configuration, which varies according to the specific position that said structural profiles occupy within the supporting structure.
Current structural profile manufacturing plants tend to be provided with drilling and/or cutting lines which mechanically perform this operation as follows: the structural profiles are conveyed by conveyor devices along the drilling and/or cutting line until they reach a working position, where they are immobilised by appropriate means. Next, programmable drilling and/or cutting devices come into contact with the structural profiles and make in said structural profiles the holes, slots and/or reliefs that they are programmed to make.
Some of said programmable drilling and/or cutting device only have one direction of operation, meaning that in order to make holes, slots and/or reliefs on more than one different face of the same structural profile it is necessary to work first on one face and, then, to separate said structural profile from the programmable drilling and/or cutting devices, normally by means of the conveyor devices, to rotate said structural profile and to carry it back to the working position to work on the second face, and so on successively until completing the process.
To carry out the operation of rotation different structural profile rotators have been proposed, integrated in the drilling and/or cutting line and which operate jointly with the conveyor devices. In some cases, said structural profile rotators are, furthermore, integrated in the conveyor devices.
Patent document US-2012/177475-A1 discloses a structural profile rotator which comprises two arms or blades that can rotate around a common spindle, said spindle being attached to the upper part of a rotation member with a first convex curved side and a second side provided with a step. A first hydraulic cylinder (which comprises a barrel cylinder closed at one of its ends and which houses inside a moveable piston connected to a piston rod) is attached by one of its ends to the portion of the second side of the rotation member comprised between the spindle and the step, with the other end of said first hydraulic cylinder being fixedly attached with the second moveable arm. Also, a second hydraulic cylinder, disposed in parallel to the first hydraulic cylinder, is attached by one of its ends to the portion of the second side of the rotation member, situated below the step. Upon actuating the first hydraulic cylinder, the rotation member that is attached to said first hydraulic cylinder makes the second arm turn about the axis. Similarly, upon actuating the second hydraulic cylinder the rotation member makes the first arm rotate in relation to the second arm. The assembly comprising the first arm, the second arm, the axis, the rotation member, the first cylinder and the second cylinder is housed within a protective cover without a lid which allows the first and second arms to rotate, maintaining all other components of said assembly out of sight. The lower part of the protective cover is provided with rolling members that can move on a track situated below, in such a way that this structural profile rotator assembly is integrated, moreover in a structural profile conveyor assembly.
As with all other devices known to man, in hydraulic cylinders, operating problems can appear caused by continuous use. One of said problems consists of the fact that, over time, the piston rods of said hydraulic cylinders bend slightly. This problem can affect a structural profile rotator such as the one disclosed in patent document US-2012/177475-A1 very negatively because its two hydraulic cylinders are disposed one on top of the other, in a parallel manner and very close to each other, meaning that if the piston rod of one of said cylinders becomes bent, it can interfere with the run of the other one hindering, or even preventing, normal operation.
To avoid this and other problems, hydraulic cylinders are subjected to periodic inspections and maintenance which are especially tedious in a structural profile rotator like the one disclosed in patent document US-2012/177475-A1, given that in order to carry them out, it is necessary to first withdraw said rotator from the track and then to dismantle the protective cover. Once said maintenance and inspection tasks have been completed, to return to normal operating conditions, the protective cover must be mounted and the rotator coupled to the track.
Furthermore, the disposition of the two hydraulic cylinders on the same vertical plane can imply drawbacks and limitations in terms of the space occupied on the vertical plane, reducing user's options in the case of requiring to replace one cylinder for a new one, for example, in the context of a repair or maintenance operation.
At the same time, the dimensions and runs (in other words, the distances between the closed end of the barrel cylinder and the opposite end of the piston rod in its position of maximum displacement of the moveable piston) of the two hydraulic cylinders comprised by the structural profile rotator disclosed in patent document US-2012/177475-A1, must be sufficiently small to allow said hydraulic cylinders to be housed one on top of the other and in parallel within the protective cover and, moreover, to be able to extend and contract adequately. This restriction limits the number of components that can be used in the manufacture of a structural profile rotator according to patent document US-2012/177475-A1 therefore reducing the versatility of manufacture of said rotators and even being able to limit the number of specific applications wherein it is possible to use said rotators.